NEW YORK CITY, AND NEWARK, DEL. — GTJ REIT Inc. has acquired two industrial properties in two separate transactions. In the first transaction, the REIT purchased a 58,000-square-foot warehouse/garage situated on 1.2 acres in Brooklyn’s East New York neighborhood. The property is currently leased to The City of New York for the Department of Sanitation through 2025. In the second deal, GTJ REIT acquired a 208,000-square-foot warehouse distribution facility situated on 12.4 acres in Newark. Built in 1999, the property is fully leased to Valassis Communications Inc. through 2025. The tenant uses the property to sort and distribute print ad materials from Maine to Northern Virginia on behalf of its customers. Terms of the transactions, including the sellers’ names and acquisition prices, were not released. With these two acquisitions, GTJ now owns 47 properties, consisting of close to 5.5 million square feet on approximately 350 acres of land.
PHILADELPHIA — PH Retail, an affiliate of Post Brothers, has acquired a controlling interest of two properties located at 1501-1505 Walnut St. and 1520-1522 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia’s Center City. The total project is valued at more than $50 million and adds 70,000 square feet of prime commercial space to PH Retail’s portfolio. Totaling 30,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space, 1501-1505 Walnut St. is occupied by AT&T Mobility’s flagship location and Club Monaco and has one 2,848-square-foot unit of space available. 1520-1522 Chestnut features 27,000 square feet of above-grade space and 13,000 square feet of below grade space. James Galbally of JLL represented the seller, PREIT, in the transaction.
NEW YORK CITY — 1776, a public benefit corporation that scouts and funds high-growth startups, plans to open its first New York City campus on the top floor of Building 77 at Brooklyn Navy Yard. The company will become the anchor tenant of the 1 million-square-foot building that is currently undergoing a $185 million renovation. Slated to open in 2017, Building 77 will feature a 60,000-square-foot food manufacturing hub on the ground floor. Additionally, the project will support 3,000 new jobs. 1776 New York City will convene institutions, policymakers and startups to revitalize critical industries like education, energy, food, health, smart cities, transportation and financial services.
INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Public Schools has selected Hendricks Commercial Properties to develop a former Coca-Cola bottling plant in downtown Indianapolis. The $260 million mixed-use project will encompass over 1 million square feet of space and be situated on 11 acres. The proposed development will include a boutique hotel, retail, residential units, entertainment options, creative office spaces, educational facilities and structured parking. The development will be located along Massachusetts Avenue, an arts and entertainment district.
SAUK RAPIDS, MINN. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $11.5 million sale of a 14,490-square-foot store net leased to Walgreens. The sales price equates to $795 per square foot. A private 1031 exchange investor purchased the building in Sauk Rapids, located approximately 68 miles northwest of Minneapolis, from an undisclosed seller. Brian Parmacek and Joshua Hergott of Marcus & Millichap represented the buyer in the transaction. Dean Giannakopoulos of Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. arranged $5.3 million in acquisition financing.
HUNTLEY, ILL. — The Cooper Commercial Investment Group has brokered the sale of a 14,366-square-foot retail property in Huntley, approximately 50 miles northwest of Chicago, for $4.3 million. Huntley Grove, built in 2008, is 93 percent occupied by tenants such as AT&T, The UPS Store, Sprint, Tropical Smoothie, Great Clips and ATI Physical Therapy. Dan Cooper of Cooper Commercial represented the seller, an Ohio-based private investment group, in the transaction. Cooper Commercial also secured the Pennsylvania-based buyer.
DOWNERS GROVE, ILL. — Novak Construction has finished remodeling a 5,000-square-foot Panera Bread restaurant in Downers Grove, approximately 25 miles west of Chicago. Interior renovations included demolition, new millwork, fabric panels and wall coverings, new ceilings, light fixtures, specialty artwork installations, flooring, bathrooms and kitchen line equipment. Exterior renovations included new signage, metal canopies, ornamental and decorative façade elements and outdoor seating with an overhead trellis.
BELLEVUE, WASH. — A joint venture between Security Properties and Pacific Life Insurance Co. has purchased the 400-unit Overlook at Lakemont apartment complex in Bellevue for $118 million. The community is located at 5305 Lakemont Blvd. S.E. Overlook at Lakemont was built in 1992. Madrona Ridge Residential, an affiliate of Security Properties, will manage the property. The seller was Heitman. Jeff Williams, Chris Ross and Tim Brown of Moran & Co. executed the sale.
SPARKS, NEV. — Brennan Investment Group has purchased a seven-building industrial portfolio in Sparks for an undisclosed sum. The portfolio contains a total of 584,866 square feet. Sparks is the largest industrial submarket in the Reno metropolitan area, according to the firm.
VISTA, CALIF. — La Mirada Drive LLC has acquired Thibodo Ranch Business Center, a 53,572-square-foot industrial business park in the San Diego submarket of Vista, for $7.5 million. The park is located at 2330, 2332, 2336 La Mirada Drive. The LLC plans to stabilize the project and hold as a long-term investment property. Isaac Little, Marko Dragovic, Matt Weaver and Al Apuzzo of Lee & Associates – North San Diego County represented the buyer. Little, Dragovic and Larry Strickland represented the seller, Thibodo Ranch LLC, in this transaction.